TY - JOUR A1 - Nasr Esfahani, M. A1 - Zare Pakzad, S. A1 - Li, T. A1 - Li, X. A1 - Tasdemir, Z. A1 - Wollschläger, Nicole A1 - Leblebici, Y. A1 - Erdem Alaca, B. T1 - Effect of Native Oxide on Stress in Silicon Nanowires: Implications for Nanoelectromechanical Systems N2 - Understanding the origins of intrinsic stress in Si nanowires (NWs) is crucial for their successful utilization as transducer building blocks in next-generation, miniaturized sensors based on anoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). With their small size leading to ultrahigh-resonance frequencies and extreme surface-to-volume ratios, silicon NWs raise new opportunities regarding sensitivity, precision, and speed in both physical and biochemical sensing. With silicon optoelectromechanical properties strongly dependent on the level of NW intrinsic stress, various studies have been devoted to the measurement of such stresses generated, for example, as a result of harsh fabrication processes. However, due to enormous NW surface area, even the native oxide that is conventionally considered as a benign surface condition can cause significant stresses. To address this issue, a combination of nanomechanical characterization and atomistic simulation approaches is developed. Relying only on low-temperature processes, the fabrication approach yields monolithic NWs with optimum boundary conditions, where NWs and support architecture are etched within the same silicon crystal. Resulting NWs are characterized by transmission electron microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The interpretation of results is carried out through molecular dynamics simulations with ReaxFF potential facilitating the incorporation of humidity and temperature, thereby providing a close replica of the actual oxidation environment - in contrast to previous dry oxidation or self-limiting thermal oxidation studies. As a result, consensus on significant intrinsic tensile stresses on the order of 100 MPa to 1 GPa was achieved as a function of NW critical dimension and aspect ratio. The understanding developed herein regarding the role of native oxide played in the generation of NW intrinsic stresses is important for the design and development of silicon-based NEMS. KW - Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) KW - Silicon nanowires KW - Native oxide KW - Intrinsic stress KW - Raman spectroscopy PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-560471 SN - 2574-0970 VL - 5 SP - 13276 EP - 13285 PB - ACS Publ. CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-56047 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zare Pakzad, S. A1 - Nasr Esfahani, M. A1 - Tasdemir, Z. A1 - Wollschläger, Nicole A1 - Li, T. A1 - Li, X. A1 - Yilmaz, M. A1 - Leblebici, Y. A1 - Erdem Alaca, B. T1 - Nanomechanical Modeling of the Bending Response of Silicon Nanowires N2 - Understanding the mechanical behavior of silicon nanowires is essential for the implementation of advanced nanoscale devices. Although bending tests are predominantly used for this purpose, their findings should be properly interpreted through modeling. Various modeling approaches tend to ignore parts of the effective parameter set involved in the rather complex bending response. This oversimplification is the main reason behind the spread of the modulus of elasticity and strength data in the literature. Addressing this challenge, a surface-based nanomechanical model is introduced in this study. The proposed model considers two important factors that have so far remained neglected despite their significance: (i) intrinsic stresses composed of the initial residual stress and surface-induced residual stress and (ii) anisotropic implementation of surface stress and elasticity. The modeling study is consolidated with molecular dynamics-based study of the native oxide surface through reactive force fields and a series of nanoscale characterization work through in situ threepoint bending test and Raman spectroscopy. The treatment of the test data through a series of models with increasing complexity demonstrates a spread of 85 GPa for the modulus of elasticity and points to the origins of ambiguity regarding silicon nanowire properties, which are some of the most commonly employed nanoscale building blocks. A similar conclusion is reached for strength with variations of up to 3 GPa estimated by the aforementioned nanomechanical models. Precise consideration of the nanowire surface state is thus critical to comprehending the mechanical behavior of silicon nanowires accurately. Overall, this study highlights the need for a multiscale theoretical framework to fully understand the size-dependent mechanical behavior of silicon nanowires, with fortifying effects on the design and reliability assessment of future nanoelectromechanical systems. KW - Silicon nanowires KW - Native oxide KW - Surface stress KW - Surface elasticity KW - Mechanical behavior PY - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-581676 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-58167 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -